BioWare is known for its character customization options, so the fact that Dragon Age: The Veilguard will have some isn’t noteworthy. However, the extent of those options is staggering, to the point where players can customize a lot of their experience.
In a series of interviews published in Game Informer this week, game director Corinne Busche delved into a ton of the customization options, from the difficulty and gameplay to character gear.
An article published Thursday continued Game Informer’s breakdown of the character customization, specifically discussing equippable gear. According to Busche, players will be able to transmog (assign certain cosmetic characteristics to) different armor sets regardless of the character. Many players have come across a cool-looking piece of armor that doesn’t have the best stats or abilities, and this is set to fix that. However, the armor still has class designations, or can only be worn by your rook.
You can also get a look at “aspirational armors” that the rook can get later in the game even if you’re just creating your character.
In another article, published Monday, Busche detailed the difficulty options. There were four available in the demo: Storyteller for story lovers; Adventurer for a balanced experience; Nightmare for way more of a challenge; and Unbound, which allows the player to customize their own. While many video games these days allow for some degree of gameplay tweaking — like the ability to turn off death or decrease damage dealt — there are some unique options here, like adjustable combat timing for parrying (great for people who don’t enjoy Soulslikes).
Busche said these options aren’t “a cheat,” but are there to “make sure players of all abilities can show up.”
Game Informer published details about character customization last week, and according to creative director John Epler, the team worked to respond to feedback regarding Dragon Age: Insquisition, like how certain hair colors looked terrible under game lighting.
This is some of the deepest customization we’ve seen in a video game. Many recent RPGs like Dragon’s Dogma 2 had detailed character creators, but few offer both a creator and robust accessibility options. We’ll get a more complete look at what’s in store closer to the game’s launch in fall 2024.